(1) Field of the Invention
The invention described herein generally relates to the field of coin handling mechanisms such as the coin disposal mechanisms for telephone paystations and in particular to the selector card used in such mechanisms.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
One of the prior art mechanisms used in coin handling is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,440 issued to R. J. Hamilton and G. G. McGough. In this patent's coin disposal mechanism, coins deposited into the telephone fall into the coin hopper which includes a pair of pivotally mounted doors upon which the coins rest until a determination is made whether to refund or collect these coins. Each door has an individual latch and a biasing means which cooperates with the latch to normally hold the doors in an unoperated position. The mechanism also includes an electromagnet, an armature therefor and a selector card having magnetic biasing means included therein. Upon receipt of an appropriate signal, the electromagnet is energized to pivot the selector card and ultimately opens one or the other of the pair of doors. The direction of electrical current flowing through the electromagnet determines the polarity thereof and the flux emanating from the electromagnet pivots the selector card to preposition the card for moving a predetermined door to the operated position. Upon continued actuation of the electromagnet, the electromagnets armature movement moves the selector card to engage the latch associated with a predetermined door, allowing the door to rotate to the operated position and any deposited coins to fall into the passageway individual to the operated door. Upon release of the electromagnet, the operated door is returned to the unoperated position and its respective latch and biasing arrangement retains the door in the unoperated position. In a similar manner, if the current flow through the electromagnet had been in the opposite direction, the selector card would have pivoted such that upon continued application of current to the electromagnet, the armature would have moved the selector card to engage the other latch and release the other door. Upon de-energization of the electromagnet, the latch and corresponding operated door would be returned to the unoperated position wherein the latch and its associated biasing means retain the door in the unoperated position until the electromagnet is again energized to release a latch and door combination.
The function of the selector card assembly is to transfer the motion of the coin relay armature to operate either the collect or refund hopper door. It selects the proper door by either tilting slightly clockwise or counterclockwise when the coin relay is energized. Then it moves downward to selectively trip the collect or refund door latch.
The tilting of the selector card is caused by magnetic interaction of the permanent magnet of the selector card assembly and the magnetic pole from the coin relay coil. The selector card magnet will be attracted at one end and repelled at the other depending upon the polarity of the pole. The selector card magnet is located at the top of the selector card and must be in close proximity to the magnetic lead for proper operation.
The downward motion of the selector card follows the tilting motion. This motion trips the proper hopper door latch and opens the door. The selector card returns, when the coin relay is deenergized, to the straight up and down position.
Prior to the invention of this new selector card assembly, the industry accepted method for holding the polarizing magnet was to mold it into place. One of the disadvantages of this method is that production operators burned their fingers when loading magnets into the hot mold.